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Kylian Mbappé’s long-running fallout with Paris Saint-Germain has intensified, with the two sides presenting extraordinary financial demands during a labour tribunal hearing in Paris on Monday.
The dispute centres on unpaid salary and bonuses that Mbappé insists were withheld before his departure from the French champions. The forward, who chose not to attend the session, had previously claimed PSG owed him €55 million, but his legal team has now expanded that figure dramatically. The France captain is pursuing €263 million, arguing his short-term deal with the club should legally be treated as a permanent contract, a shift that would entitle him to compensation for wrongful dismissal, delayed payments, severance and bonuses.
His complaint also includes claims of moral harassment, undeclared work and breaches of the club’s duty of care. "Kylian Mbappe is not asking for anything beyond what the law provides; he is simply seeking the enforcement of his legal rights, as any employee would," his lawyers said.
PSG, for their part, have filed their own claim worth €240 million, asserting that Mbappé’s refusal to sign a contract extension cost them a huge transfer fee, notably the collapse of a €300m move to Al-Hilal in early 2024. The club also accuses him of acting in bad faith throughout negotiations and damaging the club’s reputation. A judgment is expected next month.
In court, PSG argued that Mbappé concealed his intention not to extend his deal for nearly a year, a delay they say prevented them from orchestrating a transfer and protecting their investment. "Before the court, the club presented evidence showing that the player acted disloyally by concealing for nearly eleven months, between July 2022 and June 2023, his decision not to extend his contract, thereby depriving the club of any possibility of arranging a transfer," PSG said.
His claims of “moral harassment” centre on what in France is known as “lofting”, the practice of isolating a player from the senior squad for non-sporting reasons. Mbappé spent a period training away from the main group in the summer of 2023 after refusing to activate an extension clause in his deal. He had grown frustrated with his treatment during that time, when the club excluded him from a pre-season tour and the opening league match.
Before leaving for Real Madrid in 2024, Mbappé became PSG’s all-time leading scorer with 256 goals and won six Ligue 1 titles. However, his exit was overshadowed by friction behind the scenes, with PSG believing they had been left exposed after offering him the most lucrative contract in their history the previous year.
Featured Image Credit: Pexels / TBD Traveller, Unsplash / Lucksen Mathews
